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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. rock — music
  3. stem — to come from
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. capital — money
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. file — a line of people
  9. perch — the fish
  10. capital — a city
  11. spring — the season
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. rock — a stone
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. plane — a tool
  17. spring — a coil
  18. file — a document
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. file — a tool
  24. spring — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com